News

Nvidia to Join AMD on 14nm FinFET Process

In of the biggest surprises of the year to come from the graphics industry, Nvidia is reportedly planning to utilize a new process node later this year. According to a South Korean paper, Nvidia has concluded negotiations with Samsung to utilize their 14nm process node to produce Pascal GPUs. This comes after the Pascal GeForce 10 series have already launched on the 16nm process from TSMC.

For quite a while, both Nvidia and AMD utilised the same process nodes at TSMC, with the differences between their GPUs largely due to design and architecture. The latest generation has shaken things up a bit recently, with Nvidia using the 16nm FF+ node at TSMC while AMD has opted for the 14nm FinFET node from Global Foundries. This has led to additional differences in terms of overclocking, power efficiency and other node characteristics.

It’s interesting that Nvidia has chosen to move to 14nm after most industry experts have agreed that there isn’t much of a difference between the 16nm TSMC and the 14nm Samsung/Global Foundries. Perhaps Nvidia is hoping to eek out some process gains, or  strengthen their hand in negotiating with TSMC, or Samsung simply offered a better deal. At this point, there is no information yet about how many Pascal GPUs will be using 14nm or if they will even be consumer releases. Volta is set to launch next year and will likely use the same process node as well but with a new architecture.

With Nvidia on 14nm as well, AMD has lost the slim lead it had on the process side of things. Luckily, production won’t be affected as the supplier is Samsung and not Global Foundries though the two firms are sharing their process technology. Of course, the paper cited unnamed sources so we’ll have to see if this pans out. What do you think of Pascal on 14nm?

Samuel Wan

Samuel joined eTeknix in 2015 after becoming engrossed in technology and PC hardware. With his passion for gaming and hardware, tech writing was the logical step to share the latest news with the world. When he’s not busy dreaming about the latest hardware, he enjoys gaming, music, camping and reading.

Disqus Comments Loading...

Recent Posts

Still Wakes the Deep 

LIVE THE HORROR: An immersive disaster story aboard a stunningly realised North Sea oil rig,…

21 mins ago

PHILIPS 275V8LA – 27 Inch QHD Monitor

The Philips VA LED display uses an advanced multi-domain vertical alignment technology that gives you…

22 mins ago

EPOMAKER Ajazz AK820 Pro 75% Gasket-mounted Mechanical Keyboard 

【TFT Screen: The Interactive Interface】This 75% mechanical keyboard comes equipped with a TFT Screen, serving…

23 mins ago

Funko Fusion

FANDOM FUSION Play as your favorite characters and wield their unique weapons and skills. Team…

23 mins ago

Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance Standard Edition

The Definitive Version of Shin Megami Tensei V - Fully evolved with stunning visuals for…

24 mins ago

Hand Warmers Rechargeable 2 Pack

【Unique Split Design】5200mAh hand warmers rechargeable together with double-sided heating function, split snap swivel design,…

27 mins ago